CHAPEL HILL – Larry Fedora’s halftime speech to his Southern Miss football team at East Carolina last season became an instant YouTube classic and gave North Carolina fans a hint of the intensity their new coach brings to the game.

In it, he exhorted his players not to be satisfied with a first half in which they built a 24-point lead.

“I want to stick it in them,” he said. “I want to finish them off.”

It’s an attitude Fedora’s current team took to heart Saturday against those same Pirates.

Coming out with a vengeance to start the second half, the Tar Heels held ECU to just 71 total yards, forced the game’s only turnover and overwhelmed quarterback Shane Carden with six of their seven sacks to break open a close game and cruise to a 27-6 victory at Kenan Stadium.

It was an effort that was even more thorough than the score would indicate. And the best thing about it, at least in the Fedora’s eyes, is that the fiery coach didn’t have to raise his voice to create the second-half “feeding frenzy” that is rapidly becoming a UNC tradition.

The Tar Heels have now outscored their opponents 78-10 over the final two periods this season, including an incredible 52-0 margin in the third quarter.

Larry Fedora didn't have to resort to halftime dramatics to get his team fired up

“It’s not the halftime speeches, I’ll assure you of that,” Fedora said after UNC beat its in-state rival for the 12th time in 15 meetings. “It’s guys trying to come out with the same intensity level that we do at the beginning of the game. That’s always a struggle for any team … (but) our guys have maybe done a better job of that than we have in the beginning of the game.”

That was certainly the case last week at Louisville, when the Tar Heels (2-2) played their way into a 36-7 hole before nearly pulling the game out with a remarkable comeback.

Although they were much better out of the gate Saturday, gaining 248 yards and punting only once during the first half, they still wasted a lot of chances while putting only 10 points on the board. That was still good enough for the lead, thanks to a defense that forced the Pirates to end two long drives with field goals instead of touchdowns.

“Once again we didn’t get off to a great start, but our defense picked us up,” quarterback Bryn Renner said. “They didn’t allow a touchdown all day. They really helped us out.”

UNC’s defense did a lot more than that in the second half.

Bryn Renner had his second straight game with 300 or more passing yards, going 27 of 43 for 321 yards and two TDs

The trigger point turned out to be a sack by Jabari Price on a cornerback blitz that forced ECU to punt on its opening possession out of the break. One play later, Renner connected with wide receiver Sean Tapley for a 62-yard touchdown that extended the Tar Heels’ lead to 17-6.

It margin grew even larger shortly thereafter when linebacker Kevin Reddick forced a fumble with UNC’s next sack and Giovani Bernard – back after a two-game absence because of a sore right knee – converted the mistake into another score.

The Pirates never advanced past their own 43 from that point on, as Sylvester Williams, Shakeel Rashad, Devonte Brown, Kareem Martin, Norkeithus Otis and Jeff Schoettmer all took their turns getting in on the sack party in the ECU backfield. Shakeel could actually have had two, but one was nullified when he was called for grabbing Carden’s facemask.

As it is, the seven sacks are one more than UNC had in its first three games combined.

“We want to be the best line on the field.” Williams said. “We want to go out and dominate, period.”

That they’re able to do it so well in the second half is a testament to the breakneck tempo Fedora imposes as practice and the work they put in this summer with strength and conditioning coach Lou Hernandez.

“I feel like we’re in better condition than any opponent we play,” said Williams, who has lost nearly 20 pounds since last season. “No question, it’s worth it. Other teams have conditioning coaches, but we have a great one and I feel like he’s prepared us to be able to come out in the second half and fight.”